Shara Magomedov warned to steer clear of Dricus du Plessis

Shara Magomedov, a UFC middleweight prospect, recently criticized Dricus du Plessis, which prompted a reaction from the champion. In the aftermath of that exchange, retired MMA referee John McCarthy offered a suggestion to Magomedov.

'Bullet' was critical of Du Plessis' journey to become the UFC middleweight champion. Furthermore, Magomedov expressed his desire to see his fellow countryman Khamzat Chimaev replacing 'Stillknocks' as the 185-pound titleholder.

Recently, during a discussion with former UFC fighter Josh Thomson on the WEIGHING IN podcast, McCarthy shared his thoughts on the back-and-forth between Magomedov and Du Plessis.

The retired MMA referee said:

"I'm gonna say this, DDP lives in a place where there's all kinds of things going on there and don't get into a verbal confrontation with him. [Dricus du Plessis' trash-talking game], it's f**king next level, exactly. He is on point, he is brutal, he will freaking pull sh*t out of the f**king thin air and just absolutely hammer you."

Check out John McCarthy's comments below (1:26:46):

'Stillknocks' is well-known for his trash talk in the MMA community. Notably, before his UFC fights, Du Plessis goes to great lengths to win the mental warfare game by exploiting his opponents' emotional and personal attachments.

Sean Strickland and Israel Adesanya are two of the prime examples who were on the receiving end of this tactic.

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Shara Magomedov reveals the reason behind his first professional MMA loss

After making his debut at UFC 294, Shara Magomedov went on an impressive four-fight win streak before facing Michael 'Venom' Page at UFC Fight Night 250 in Saudi Arabia.

After a three-round battle, Page defeated Magomedov by unanimous decision, marking the first professional MMA loss for the Russian fighter.

After the fight, in an interview with Ushatayka on YouTube, 'Bullet' explained why he performed poorly against 'Venom'. He attributed his lackluster performance to an illness, sharing details of the health issues he faced leading up to the fight:

"I've never felt this sick in the cage. My legs were gone, my arms felt weak, and I've got a lot of health issues I don’t want to reveal. It was a whole bunch of problems that affected my performance. My mind was there, but my body was off. I've got dysbacteriosis and parasitosis in my intestine, and I've got problems with my bile flow... That's why I wasn’t able to put the proper pace."

Check out Shara Magomedov's comments below (h/t Red Corner MMA):